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I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

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Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#31

Post by dttze »

volkk wrote: post #14
stfp wrote: post #8

This makes fun at a dept of labor website for listing abilities: > It tells veterans their primary skills are that they can "communicate by speaking" and "use [their] arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down." Thanks for your service. If you don't believe me, look for yourself. But to me it’s clear why these abilities are listed: veterans with disabilities. The author not getting that is just……

> But to me it’s clear why these abilities are listed: veterans with disabilities. The author not getting that is just… do you ever stop and think? at what point do you stop treating people like they're not utter idiots though? the JD is a rotary drill operator. do you really need to list that you need finger and arm movement for this job? And, it's not solely for veterans with disabilities, it's for all veterans. >…

Stating it is not out of the ordinary isn't excusing it. Are you saying they should have rushed it? Is PHI data being leaked because they rushed it not consequential?

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#32

Post by volkk »

dttze wrote: post #31
volkk wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But to me it’s clear why these abilities are listed: veterans with disabilities. The author not getting that is just… do you ever stop and think? at what point do you stop treating people like they're not utter idiots though? the JD is a rotary drill operator. do you really need to list that you need finger and arm movement for this job? And, it's not solely for veterans with disabilities, it's for all veterans. >…

Stating it is not out of the ordinary isn't excusing it. Are you saying they should have rushed it? Is PHI data being leaked because they rushed it not consequential?

> Stating it is not out of the ordinary isn't excusing it.

that's literally what it is. why else mention other failures than to soften the blow of the current failure in front of you. that's an excuse to me. anything else is pedantics

> Are you saying they should have rushed it? Is PHI data being leaked because they rushed it not consequential?

huh? this is simply a domain transfer. In a non-idiotic world, the actual entity in charge of VA data (i.e the Dept of V.A) is doing data due diligence. the other entity doesn't need to care about this. what makes the Dept Of Labor the arbiters of PHI of veterans? And, even if they happen to be, why can't the VA become their own arbiters? Why not offload that power to make things move faster? To me, a needless example of bureaucracy. I can already imagine certain govt workers wielding this fake power to slow everything down to ensure their own survival

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#33

Post by insane_dreamer »

Streamlining government processes to be more efficient: Worthy goal, and _maybe_ Elon in a former life would have been the right person to spearhead this.

But that's not what's happening now. They're not streamlining, they -- and by that I mean Elon's engineers -- are "uncovering fraud", "rooting out corruption", and "getting rid of DEI" -- none of which have anything to do with efficiency and red tape. Oh, and coincidentally, the fraud and corruption all happens to be centered at agencies which Trump and Elon have a beef with (maybe because DEI==corruption?)

Yes, we need more technologists in government. Also, technologists should take care of _technology_, not _purges_.

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#34

Post by insane_dreamer »

djray wrote: post #10

The problem is that this is the first time any of us are hearing of these inefficiencies. Were these concerns raised with the author's state representative? The oversight committee? Why was the press not informed if lives were at risk? Why was pressure not heaped upon senior management and the powers that be to effect actual change years ago when the problems were first observed? Merely griping about how frustrating…

Also these types of -- very valid -- frustrations, are common in any very large organization, private or public.

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#35

Post by insane_dreamer »

redserk wrote: post #13
stfp wrote: post #8

This makes fun at a dept of labor website for listing abilities: > It tells veterans their primary skills are that they can "communicate by speaking" and "use [their] arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down." Thanks for your service. If you don't believe me, look for yourself. But to me it’s clear why these abilities are listed: veterans with disabilities. The author not getting that is just……

Unfortunately there a number of people who fail to take a moment and understand the “why” behind a problem or process. I’ve enjoyed being on teams and organizations that have tried to focus on the “why” instead of jumping to conclusions because meaningful changes ended up getting implemented and future changes are a lot easier as a result of process change. The author’s jump to conclusions just wastes everyone’s time…

Engineers are particularly prone to failing to understand the "why" when it falls outside of their technological area of expertise.

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#36

Post by cholantesh »

stfp wrote: post #8

This makes fun at a dept of labor website for listing abilities: > It tells veterans their primary skills are that they can "communicate by speaking" and "use [their] arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down." Thanks for your service. If you don't believe me, look for yourself. But to me it’s clear why these abilities are listed: veterans with disabilities. The author not getting that is just……

>The author not getting that is just… do you ever stop and think?

They refer to themselves as a "lifelong libertarian", so probably not since turning 14.

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#37

Post by frankish »

mezzie2 wrote: post #17

I think one thinking error that people like the author make is that they assume these problems are inherent to and limited to government rather than being inherent to any organization of a certain size and complexity. (Big Tech is an interesting exception because those companies can demand a certain level of tech savvy culturally). I've worked in large academic institutions and currently work in a giant private corpo…

Isn't one of the key distinctions here that government does not have to be concerned about failing? Businesses can end or change something to survive. Government bureaucracy can keep protecting itself without having to face harsh realities.

Re: I Tried to Fix Government Tech for Years. I'm Fed Up

#38

Post by mezzie2 »

frankish wrote: post #37
mezzie2 wrote: post #17

I think one thinking error that people like the author make is that they assume these problems are inherent to and limited to government rather than being inherent to any organization of a certain size and complexity. (Big Tech is an interesting exception because those companies can demand a certain level of tech savvy culturally). I've worked in large academic institutions and currently work in a giant private corpo…

Isn't one of the key distinctions here that government does not have to be concerned about failing? Businesses can end or change something to survive. Government bureaucracy can keep protecting itself without having to face harsh realities.

There are plenty of businesses that aren't concerned with failing, particularly post 2008 and post COVID, and this is more likely the larger they are. Furthermore, there is little correlation between the business failing and adverse impacts for the people running it, which is similar to the government.

If you're very high up in a giant organization and the business fails, you have the network to land somewhere else - the COO of a 10,000+ employee company is not going to end up penniless working at Walmart. In an organization of that size, responsibility is so diffuse you just blame it on other people/departments/etc. and parachute away.

If you're a worker bee in an organization of that size, whether the business succeeds or fails doesn't have much correlation with your job security or performance.

I'd agree in a vacuum that in a capitalist society that would be a major difference, but post 2008, business leaders are well aware that the appetite for letting large businesses fail is not there. We'd lose too many jobs/the economic hit would be too large, and we'd rather prop up bad businesses to keep people employed than help low-level employees after their leaders run their businesses into the ground.

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